The diameter of the sinkhole, which appeared on April 12 in the allotment gardens at Jana Pawła II Street in Trzebinia (Małopolskie Voivodeship), increased by about two-three meters. It was originally five meters in diameter and six meters deep. A tree fell into the funnel.
Zapadlisko, which appeared on April 12 in allotment gardens on the street John Paul II in Trzebinia, is getting bigger and bigger.
– The diameter of the sinkhole increased by two-three meters. The depth remained about the same. No one was hurt, the spokesman for the Małopolska fire brigade, senior midshipman Hubert Ciepły, said on Saturday.
This is how the sinkhole at ul. John Paul II in TrzebiniaSiersza housing estate (Facebook)
The hole in the allotment gardens was originally five meters in diameter and six meters deep. The tree collapsed along with the ground. Now the diameter of the funnel is already about eight meters in diameter.
Expert: spring favors the formation of sinkholes
According to a geomechanics from AGH, prof. The spring weather is conducive to the intensification of the formation of subsequent sinkholes.
– Winter is gone, now the ground is wetter, the rains can be torrential – noted Prof. Whole. The dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Resources Management of the AGH University of Science and Technology stressed that in the post-mining area, the groundwater level rises by one or two centimeters every day, and by as much as 40-60 centimeters per month.
Read also: A few meters from the block, a silo fell into the hole. They buried it together with the tank
Zadliska in Trzebinia
Polish Geological Institute designated nearly 500 places at risk of sinkholes in the commune. 38 points are within 20 meters of built-up areas – additional surveys of these areas are scheduled to begin in April/May.
For a long time, not a month goes by without the ground collapsing in Trzebinia, Lesser Poland. Before the sinkhole in the allotment gardens, the ground collapsed on April 9 in a forest area at Kopalniana Street. Two days earlier another crater was created next to the blocks of flats in the Gaj housing estate, absorbing a large silo inside.
According to the commune authorities, in the last two or three years, about 100 holes may have appeared in the post-mining area, including those that have not been inventoried. The sinkholes in Trzebinia became famous in September 2022, when the ground collapsed in the cemetery and swallowed dozens of graves.
The post-mining damage is caused by the former “Siersza” hard coal mine, operating in this town since the mid-nineteenth century. In the years 1999-2001 the mine closed down. At the beginning, the exploitation was shallow, at a depth of 20-25 meters. Then the underground passages went lower and lower. The liquidators assumed that the voids left after exploitation would be filled with water. Over time, the water began to come closer and closer to the surface of the earth.
Main photo source: Siersza housing estate (Facebook)